Saturday, March 3, 2012

Andrew Breitbart, conservative media activist, passed away on Thursday at 43. I wrote about him in connection with a video he created that made a false impression of Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod (an issue that Ta-Nehisi Coates considers in his thoughtful assessment of Breitbart’s career). Other responses to Breitbart’s passing recall insinuations by right wingers such as Rush Limbaugh that the Clintons were involved in the death of former White House Council Vince Foster. Currently there are online conspiracy theories contending that an Obama hit squad killed Breitbart (who actually had a history of heart problems) to prevent a video of the president’s college years from being released. Here’s one Tweet that makes this outlandish accusation:

More conspiracy-oriented Tweets are here. What’s with the right-wing depiction of Democratic administrations as Mafiosi gangs?